180nm CMOS

Subject – Science and Technology

Context: India’s Milestone in Semiconductor R&D, IIT Bombay demonstrates Memory Technology on 180nm CMOS Process

Concept:

The natural world is analog while computing is digital. Computers perceive the natural world through sensor chips whose output is analog.
The analog output is converted into the language of computers through a digitizer chip or an analog to digital converter (ADC).
The generic chips can now be designed and application-specific offsets added to make expensive custom chip design redundant, saving time and money for the user.
IIT Bombay partnered with SCL to successfully demonstrate CMOS 180nm based production-ready 8-bit memory technology.
The 180 nm process refers to the level of MOSFET (CMOS) semiconductor process technology that was commercialized around the 1998–2000 timeframe by leading semiconductor companies
The Government of India took cognizance of the significance of R&D in innovation-driven semiconductor manufacturing, at IIT Bombay and the Indian Institute of Science.
The team at IIT Bombay was supported by the Department of Science and Technology’s Intensification of Research in High Priority Area (IRHPA).Aspects of the work were funded by MeitY/DST’s Nano electronics Network for Research and Applications (NNetRA)

Advantage of CMOS 180nm

The chip uses one-time programmable (OTP) memory based on ultra-thin deposited silicon dioxide (a few atoms thick) instead of the existing gate oxide-based OTP technology.
In contrast to the high voltage required by gate oxide breakdown (a popular OTP memory), IIT Bombay’s memory chip requires less power and chip-area as the need for boosted voltage supply is avoided.
The Memory technology is critical to data security.
It will be a game changer by enabling secure memory and encryption hardware for the country.